Customer Reviews

Happily Ever After Collection: Fairy Tales For Every Child (Mother Goose/Pinocchio/The Pied Piper/The Golden Goose)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Parents looking for a colorful spin on their favorite childhood stories need search no further than HBO's multicultural animated series "Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child," available in full on DVD or on demand from HBO Family. Designed for the 12-and-under-crowd, the award-winning series offers modern reinterpretations of familiar classics, placing minority characters in the lead roles, and shifting the settings to reflect a diversity of world cultures. Little Red Riding Hood gets transported to ancient China, The Emperor's New Clothes is reimagined in feudal Japan, Rapunzel gets a Cajun makeover, and Snow White becomes a Native American princess named White Snow. Narrated by Robert Guillaume and boasting such A-list voice talent such as Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Whoopi Goldberg, Rosie Perez, Chris Rock, and Samuel L. Jackson, among others, the show adds a new emphasis on tolerance, understanding and cooperation to each story's traditional moral lesson.
Deftly avoiding the twin pitfalls of racial caricature and bland political correctness, the show manages--at its best--to fuse the distinct flavor of each culture into its storytelling, without sacrificing the timeless qualities that have kept these tales alive for generations. Of course, as with any series, some episodes succeed better than others, so here I will offer a more detailed critique of three in particular to serve as a representative snapshot.
The first, entitled "The Princess and the Pauper," takes Mark Twain's tale of mistaken identity and gives it a feminist twist. Olivia is the pampered princess of Peachburg, a prosperous kingdom with a dark underbelly--the crime-infested slum known as the Peach Pits, home of the virtuous Zoe. Encouraged by her loving mother, Zoe dreams of a better life outside the ghetto, but her degenerate father keeps her down, telling her, "You're just a broke nobody like the rest of us." A chance encounter in the town square leads to a friendship between Zoe and Olivia, who realize that they are exact doubles. Switching clothes on a lark, the girls end up displaced from their respective homes, and during their adventures each learns valuable lessons about equality and human dignity. Aside from the class issues explored in this episode, there is also a remarkable range of ethnicities on display, although race relations are not addressed explicitly. Olivia and Zoe are both black (and ostensibly "American,") but Olivia has a Persian father and an African mother, and the townspeople pictured are white, black, Hispanic, Asian, and Arabic, all shown living harmoniously. The episode also delicately addresses the death of Olivia's father, so parents of younger viewers should be prepared to discuss the subject further after the credits roll.
The second episode, called "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," tells the story of a young wheelchair-bound girl named Imani, who lives with her grandmother, and prefers the company of her own imagination to that of other kids her age. One day, her grandmother gives her a box of toy soldiers made by her grandfather. One soldier in particular is missing a leg where her grandfather ran out of material--"That's just the way that one was made," the grandmother says. Imani dubs the toy Goldie, and gives it a place of honor among her other playthings. Once everyone is asleep, the toys come to life and interact with one another, and Goldie finds herself ostracized by the group, except for a handsome African doll atop Imani's bookcase. Determined to win his affections, Goldie begins her long climb upward, facing a series of obstacles along the way, including the scheming of a psychotic Jack-in-the-box, and the musical taunts of a mean-spirited trio of Barbie dolls, who tell her, "You don't stand a chance." Goldie perseveres, however, with the mantra, "Determination is all I need," and eventually reaches her destination to become the hero of the toyroom. Imani wakes up to find Goldie locked in a dance with the African doll, decides to stop feeling sorry for herself, and is empowered to leave the house to make new friends.
The third episode is a resetting of the tale of Robin Hood against a Mexican background. Entitled "Robinita Hood," the episode incorporates a good deal of Spanish into the story of the plucky heroine who "steals from los ricos and gives to los pobres." Together with her band of Merry Chicas, Robinita Hood terrorizes the evil sheriff and fights for the underprivileged, fostering ideas of charity as well as female empowerment. Parents may not like the use of violence as a solution to conflict that is prevalent in this episode, and although no gets hurt, plenty of money is stolen by the protagonist, albeit for a noble cause. A discussion about injustice and what can be done about it would probably be useful after viewing this one with younger children.
All in all, this series does an admirable job of presenting an alternative to the typical Eurocentric heroes of the cartoon landscape. Entertaining and educational, with clear moral lessons imparted in each episode, "Happily Ever After" is a fun and effective way to open children's eyes to the diversity of modern life, and to start them thinking early about respecting and appreciating other cultures. Unfortunately, HBO stopped producing new episodes of the series in the early 2000s, but families can still find the show in various formats. I would give the series a solid A-minus, and recommend that parents or teachers watch this with their children and encourage a dialogue about the issues explored.

This collection gives a fun and unique spin on classic fairy tales. I love the fact that the characters represent a broad range of cultures and ethnicities.

I saw this DVD at a local museum and it was priced at $22. I wanted it immediately for my 2 year old because of the wonderful animation, celebrity participation, and the fact that it focused on some of my childhood favorites. When I bought this product, I expected it be good...It was/is great!! My 2 year old watches it over and over. It was well worth the price and my child's excitment is priceless! Thanks to AMAZON.COM for always having a wonderful selection of products at a wonderful price. (~_~)

These are wonderful stories being retold in a way every child can relate to the chacters. It's so refreshing to see characters of all nationalities being represented. My children watch these dvd's over and over. You can also watch this series on HBO Family "Happily Ever After" in the mornings.

I remembered seeing this on HBO and thought that it would be a great addition for my child's video library. Now that I have it on DVD, I thoroughly enjoy the multicultural aspect of these stories. My child also has fun singing along with it too!!!

I wish the other stories were on DVD instead of VHS. I wonder why the movie people did this???? I would love to own more episodes

I have a two year old daughter who loves this dvd! I must admit that my husband and I like it too. The jokes are funny and the songs are a lot of fun. It is also really exciting to recognize the voices of of so many great actors. I highly recommend it!

My preschooler and I just discovered this excellent series of fairy tales. Shown on HBO Family, we've become great fans of this show where classic fairy tales are reimagined and retold with a multicultural flavor. This collection contains four tales, each running for about 30 minutes. The tales in this collection are Pinocchio (with a talented voice over cast comprising Will Smith, Chris Rock, and Della Reese, amongst others). Mother Goose has Whoopi Goldberg, Jimmy Smits, and Denzel Washington providing the voices. Pied Piper is reimagined in a unique and fun way, and the music the Piper plays in this tale is jazz! Samuel L. Jackson voices King Hamelin and the Piper is voiced by Wesley Snipes. The Golden Goose was my favorite with important life lessons contained within. In fact, all of these fairy tales have positive messages and I love the creativity and thought that went into producing each story. These are great for children ages 5 and up and adults, and are a wonderful resource for elementary level teachers as the stories can be used as part of a multicultural curriculum. Highly recommended!

this is a wonderful tool to get today children attention and help them learn something about an old classic!

I use to watch these on HBO with my children every Saturday when they were growing up. Now I get to watch them with my granddaugthers and they love them too. I only wish that they'd have all of the cartoons on DVD. Besides this one, the only other one was Robinita Hood and that is on a disk all alone. I would like to have the whole series if they ever decide to put it all on DVD.

I am a big child at heart. I grew up on these stories and used to wait for them to play at Hbo family all the time, still do. I have wanted them on dvd for a long time. I hope they come out with the rest of the episodes. Robinita Hood is out on dvd too, but there are so many missing from this collection. Great guest artists such as Sinbad, Liz Torres, Jasmine Guy, Whoppi Goldberg, Raven Simone, Will Smith, Marc Anthony, Chris Rock. Listening to Robert Guillaume is a joy through out the story. I I love the diversity and educational value instilled in these stories. Highly recommended.